Wooster looks to build on streak

Friday

Sep 21, 2007 at 4:03 AM

By ELLIOTT SCHREINERDaily Record Sports WriterWOOSTER -- Case Western Reserve is fed up with The College of Wooster football team's antics.The Spartans have faced the Scots five times since 2002. Four times Case has come in undefeated. Each of those games the Spartans went home with a loss."We've been there before," Case coach Greg Debaljak said. "We've been 3-0 a couple times the last few years. "But I think their 0-2 record is a bit deceiving. We know we're going to play a good football team. We also know they're missing a few three- and four-year starters from last year's team."If the Spartans have one decided advantage, it's that they return a lot. There's seven back on the offensive side of the ball and nine on defense. They're outscoring opponents by an average of 43.7-15.7.But they just haven't been able to do it against Wooster. The Scots have beaten them in the last 10 meetings and 13 of their last 14."Case is going to be good," Wooster linebacker Greg Schermbeck said. "They give us a good game every year. They're 3-0 this year and they have a good offense."But we don't really have any slouches on our schedule, and everyone is usually aiming to play us."Case has been good to date. None of the teams they've played -- each of which have been from the North Coast Athletic Conference -- have played them close. Sophomore quarterback Dan Whalen has been the main threat on offense. He's thrown for 587 yards with seven scores and a single pick. He's also put up a team-best 185 yards on the ground. Wide receivers Tim Cowdrick (277 yards, two touchdowns) and Ryan Kolesar (194, two) are each athletic options that have helped the team pile up points. Derek Bush and Corey Checkan each come in with over 100 yards rushing. The Spartans have averaged 443.3 yards of offense per game."They a very good football team," Wooster coach Mike Schmitz said. "Offensively they obviously score a lot of points. They've got some talented players with Whalen, Cowdrick and Bush. They've got a variety of guys who can make plays."The defense has been stout, giving up 268.7 yards per game. They've forced an incredible 11 turnovers thus far. But all that has been against lesser NCAC teams. Their first three opponents -- Oberlin, Denison and Kenyon -- were picked to finish in the bottom half of the NCAC standings. So what makes the Scots so afraid of a team that lost five of their last seven in 2006 and hasn't beaten them in 10 tries""They're a team that's been steadily improving the last four or five years," Schmitz said. On the other hand, the Scots are young.Wooster is 0-2 for the first time since 1995, and it's coming off a game in which it blew a 21-point halftime lead in a 45-35 loss to Waynesburg.But the Scots have had time to work on those things. They've had two weeks to prepare for Saturday thanks to a bye week. They've used that time to shore up on some fundamentals and get healthy. Running back Dustin Sheppard, who didn't practice last week, and defensive back Jeff Geffert, who was injured against Waynesburg, should be close to full speed. And defensive lineman Chris Wade is back and could give the team depth.And then there's the tradition they've built the last decade."The good thing about Wooster is you know what you're going to get," Debaljak said. "Some teams fluctuate, but Wooster is well-coached and they're consistent."Case is hoping to keep this season's consistency going by staying unbeaten and keeping the Scots winless. They're hoping to break the consistency of Wooster's dominance at the same time."We like to think every week is the most important week," Debaljak said. "But this means more to the players because of the streak. We've got a lot of fourth-year players that haven't beat Wooster."Our No. 1 goal is to win the league. This isn't going to help us win the league, but this game is huge."AROUND THE NCAC: It's been a tough start in the North Coast Athletic Conference. The Scots are among five 0-2 teams and the league's lone unbeaten is Wabash, which is ranked No. 19 nationally by d3football.com ... Wooster's fourth opponent, Wittenberg, won its first game 17-16 on a fourth-quarter field goal from Mark Porter ... Preseason favorite Wabash looks to have another weapon. Sophomore quarterback Kyle Augustinovicz made his first career start and threw for 270 yards and a touchdown in his team's 28-6 victory over Millikin.Elliott Schreiner can be reached at (330)287-1657 or eschreiner@the-daily-record.com

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